Saturday, March 31, 2018

March has been a crazy month, so much going on and so many book releated things as well. Some of it great and some of it bad, but overall March has been a pretty good month this year. I can't believe it's already spring, it's crazy when you look back at a year and see how fast it goes by. Just shows us that we should charish every moment of every day.

Alright enough of the sappy, let's get down to business shall we!

Let's talk about the books I read this month and see how I actually did.

This month I read three young adult books and three children's books for review. That's actually not as bad as I had thought.

Most of these have been reviewed or will be reviewed on my blog soon.

These are just a few of the posts I really enjoyed this month on the blog. I'm really enjoying all of the discussion posts I've been doing lately and I hope you all feel the same.

What Ali's Been Watching Lately

Review: Scythe

Ali Talks: Five Books That Have Been On My Shelf The Longest

Spring Bloggiesta Sign Up and Goals

Ali Talks: Advice For New Book Bloggers

Review: Hello Stranger

Review: Every Heart A Doorway

Ali Talks: Reading Your Backlist

Ali Talks: How My Reading Habits Have Changed

Like I said the other day, I've really started posting more this past month, which makes me so happy!

I wasn't on Instagram much this past month, but I have started learning more about Instagram stories and plan to be on that a lot more this upcoming month. So make sure you're following me, to do so CLICK HERE!

My favorite image I took this month was one of my currently reading images...

I love taking pictures on Instagram, espcially when it comes to books, though I do share other images on there sometimes as well.

So that was the month of March, can't believe it's almost April already, where does the time actually go? Anyway, I hope you all had a great March and I hope you all have a fantastic April!

Friday, March 30, 2018

Book Blogger Hop is another post I'm going to be trying out and this one has a topic each week, which is something I've been trying to bring to the blog. I'm really excited about this one because I have a hard time coming up with something fresh to talk about and I'm hoping this helps.

If you would be interested in doing your own post, please CLICK HERE to learn more about this great hop!

30th - April 5th - How many book clubs do you belong to? If you do belong to an in-person book club, do you have meetings in the day or evening? Do you meet at someone's house or meet at a local restaurant or coffee house? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

I belong to two internet book clubs but sadly none that are in person, though I would love to join one if there was one in my area. I've been thinking for awhile now that I would love to start one in my area but really don't have the time. Maybe one day!

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Today is a special day here on the blog, we have a great guest post and giveaway for you. Enjoy!

Today I am super excited to have the author of The Trial Rules with us, today she is sharing a glimpse into her day with us.

I’m a firm believer in routine. There’s a saying that it takes three weeks to establish a new habit, and it gets easier to maintain after that point. (But it’s oh-so easy to slip out of habits.) Writing is part of my daily routine, and while I may not write new words every day, I sit in my chair at the same time every day so my body doesn’t fall out of the habit.

Mornings are my preferred time, for a couple reasons. Most importantly, I like to sit down with my characters before the outside world has had a chance to stomp around inside my head. I don’t check my phone, I don’t turn on the TV—I just grab a cup of tea and settle into my writing chair with my laptop.

Mornings are also great because by 8am, I can check ‘write’ off my to-do list. (Yes, I put ‘write’ on my to-do list for every weekday.) Before I got into this routine, I wrote whenever it fit into my schedule and all day I had this thing hanging over me, and the little voice in my head wouldn’t shut up that I still needed to get my daily words. Now I start the day feeling accomplished.

(Side note: I don’t want to give the impression that I’m some magical being that never oversleeps or gets distracted online or has an early appointment. Those things happen. What I’m describing is my ideal; what 95% of my mornings look like.)

When I’m actively writing a book, my goal is 1000 words per day, which is roughly four pages. Since my novels end up being around 75,000 words, in a perfect world I can write a novel in 75 days. But life and other interests are always fighting for my time—and some days I can only eke out 250 words—so it typically takes 4-6 months for me to finish a first draft.

When I’m between books (like I am right now), I still drag my butt out of bed at 6:30 and settle into my writing chair to cuddle with my laptop. Whether it’s book promo (like this!) or other business-y things, I still use this time for writing-related activities. That way when I’m ready to dive into edits or write my next book, my body doesn’t fight it.

Junior year’s looking up for sixteen-year old Mike. Her new
BFF isn’t a sadistic control freak, her boyfriend adores her, and she’s
learning to bike in the mountains without decapitating herself on a tree.

Well, almost.

When she meets a group of riders who welcome her into their
pack, she feels like she’s finally found where she belongs. One particular
rider—a boy with an amazing smile and an even more amazing ability to see what
she’s truly capable of—gives her the confidence to go after what she wants: her
own life with her own rules.

There’s only one problem—he’s not her boyfriend.

Just as things seem to be falling into place, her parents
put on the pressure to figure out her future—one that doesn’t include riding.
Mike soon realizes that having everything isn’t that great when she’s not the
one choosing it. She needs to decide if she’s going to continue to be a follower
or step out of the shadows and find her own trail.

Multi-award winning young adult author Melanie Hooyenga
first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that
age group. She has lived in Washington DC, Chicago, and Mexico, but has finally
settled down in her home state of Michigan. When not at her day job as a
Communications Director at a nonprofit, you can find Melanie attempting to
wrangle her Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with
her husband Jeremy.